Immigration is an issue some see as a serious problem in the United States. Immigrants form Mexico and Central America come to our country to take jobs, utilize social security, and take advantage of welfare. Now this is not the belief of all Americans, just a general stereotype that some have chosen to adapt. However, Dr. Miguel De La Torre, a professor of Social Ethics, Iliff School of Theology, is a Cuban professor at the University of Denver who has written numerous books and has first hand experience on the issue of immigration. He himself has been to the deserts of Arizona and helped countless immigrants make the long journey to the U.S. He has a passion for defending the rights of Latino people and feels that they deserve to have what is rightfully there, returned to them.
So what does Dr. De La Torre feel the people of Mexico and Cuba and all Central America have the right to? Hundreds of years ago, The United States went to war with Mexico, or what is now the western portion of the United States that once was Mexico. After the war, The Unites States seized huge portions of Mexican land, perhaps some of the most plentiful land in the whole country. Not only did the U.S. expose them for their resources, but also for cheap labor. Much of the Unites States wealth and power comes from the west in areas such as California where gold was discovered, Texas for oil, and the entire west coast used for shipping. Without these resources, the U.S. never would have been so successful, Dr. De La Torre is here to ensure that this wealth is restored to its rightful people.
Being an immigrant from Cuba, Dr. De La Torre, is lucky to be here in the United States. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was allowed to leave Cuba and come to America without too much hassle. Whether he is happy to have lived here for nearly 50 years is hard to tell given that he speaks of America like a villain. Perhaps a better word to describe his feelings would be a bully, someone who is stronger and more powerful who takes what they want. His tone is not angry, but strong, he is upset about something. What he is upset about, in addition to how the U.S. took the land from Mexico many years ago, is how immigration has turned into a way to kill off those crossing the border. He is upset about the 13-year-old girl who died of thirst and hunger in the Arizona desert trying to make it to America. He is upset about the women who are raped on their way to America and the over 12,000 immigrants who die in both the U.S. and Mexico.
Dr. De La Torre is on a mission, a mission to ensure the safe passage of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. In order to complete this task, he has spent weeks at a time in the very same deserts where these thousands of people die every year. With the help of a team of volunteers, they go into the desert of Arizona and walk the very same trails immigrants from Mexico walk every year. Carrying food and water, the aid immigrants trying to make it to America. Often times they encounter the unfortunate, one of those 12,000 who didn’t quite make it and perish in the sun. And if the sun doesn’t kill you, then the snakes, mountain lions, and other various creatures will. What he asks is “How is it that people are dying in the richest country in the world, the richest country in the world?” As the crowd sits in silent for s moment he passes around a picture of a little girl, the same girl who at the age of 13 died trying to come to America looking for a better life.
Although he is not a Mexican immigrant himself, he does fight for the people of Mexico as well as all people of Central America. He not only fights to keep them alive as they roam the desert, but he fights for what he feels is fair. He doesn’t directly say it, but it is easy to pick up on what he is trying to say. That is that, if the U.S. took all this land from the Mexican people years ago, and they export them for their cheap labor, don’t they deserve some of that wealth? The reason Mexico is so poor is because the U.S. took all their resources to gain its own wealth and power. No wonder much of Mexico lives in poverty and its people die trying to make it to America. In Dr. De La Torres’ mind, when Mexican people immigrate back to the U.S. they are actually coming home.
The title of the segment was “Immigration In a New Light,” which is suiting because that is how I saw it. Whether good or bad, after attending the seminar I learned how one becomes a U.S. citizen, along with how one loses all their land, resources, and power to another country. The seminar was very educational on how difficult it is to become a citizen of this country, both legally and illegally. Dr. De La Torre is an ambitious man who is a savior to people south of the border, whether he is wrong or not is up to you.
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